Tag Archives: elephant seal

First Fog and Census

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Fog rolled in on Monday night, activating the signal from the beacon. It’s a piercing set of three tones every minute, and a sound that I am very familiar with from hearing it often while at Rocky Point. I had been warned to bring earplugs, which I did, but I didn’t need them.

Fog roll

I was actually welcoming the fog for several reasons. Recent Eco-guardian Joan Rosenberg shared a tip about cleaning the solar panels when they were still wet with fog. Great idea! That made things go much quicker. There were also some things I really needed to get to on the computer, but when the weather is good, I want to be out looking around. The panels got cleaned, but the fog cleared fairly early, so things that should be done are still waiting.

The fog clearing definitely made my planned census today possible. Here is my report:

Census

Mammals

Humpback Whale: 1

Elephant Seal: 1 male

Returning from his daily swim.

Harbour Seal: 191 including several pups

Steller’s Sea Lion: 27

Steller’s and California Sea Lions

California Sea Lion 23

California Sea Lions

Birds

Black Oystercatcher: 8

Killdeer: 2

Black Turnstone: 21

Surfbird: 1

Rhinoceros Auklet: 5

Common Murre: 1

Heermann’s Gull: 1

California Gull: 700 (mostly early morning, although some lingered through the day)

Glaucous winged Gull: 655 (by clicker–highest count for me so far)

Pelagic Cormorant: 5

Double-crested Cormorant: 4

Bald Eagle: 1

Song Sparrow: 1

Brown-headed Cowbird: 1

Unidentified passerine: 1 (right as the sun set, the bird flew in east of the lighthouse, but I couldn’t relocate it. I’ll be checking the area in the morning!

Facility Work: Solar panels and windows cleaned. Greg came by with a load of diesel. Arriving California Sea Lions prompted check and minor fixes to the fencing.  We also topped up all of the batteries with distilled water.

Battery bank. 24 needing juice!

Vessel Traffic: Ecotourism was big today with as many as five vessels in the reserve at once. Estimate more than 20 came through today. No private vessels noted.

Another beautiful sunset!

Sunset

Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Seawatch Part 2

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Since the fog was staying away, Daniel Donnecke and I decided to have another go at a seawatch today, Daniel at Beechey Head and me at Race Rocks.  From my perspective, this one worked out much better, but we still were not seeing many of the same birds.  The exception, though, was a large group of (mostly) California Gulls that lifted off shortly after our start time of 6:30.  Like  yesterday, there were hundreds of gulls feeding just off Race Rocks. Although there was still krill in the area, there were also small fish that you could occasionally see glinting in their bills.  I was also watching a large barge of logs being towed towards Puget Sound.

It wasn’t clear what put them up, or whether there was just a signal that it was time to go.  Some headed to a bait ball to the east while several hundred headed east towards Beechy Head where Daniel saw them coming in.

Ecological Notes:

1 Elephant Seal

80 Harbour Seal

California Sea Lion

Steller’s Sea Lion

Several bird firsts for me for the week.

11 Canada Goose

7 Black Oystercatcher (including one juvenile)

Baby Black Oystercatcher

Still under its parent’s watchful eye

1 Killdeer

45 Black Turnstone

55 Common Murre

80 Pigeon Guillemot – many carrying gunnels

2 Marbled Murrelet

1 Cassin’s Auklet

14 Rhinoceros Auklet

500 California Gull (probably a gross underestimation)

400 Glaucous-winged Gull (not an increase, but a more accurate count today)

1 Herring Gull

4 Heerman’s Gull

1000 more unidentified gull feeding on krill and small fish.

1 Bald Eagle – perched on middle islands. First raptor of the week for me

1 Song Sparrow

1 Brown-headed Cowbird – First passerine I saw during my stay.

Facility Work: cleaned windows and solar panels.

Vessel Traffic: lots of traffic in the shipping lanes including large barge of logs

Barge of logs

Steady stream of ecotourism vehicles starting mid-morning, but fewer than yesterday. 10+

Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Elephant Seal Bubbles

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This was my first full day at Race Rocks and it started with a fog check at 5 am. One of the volunteers from nearby Rocky Point Bird Observatory was interested in doing a simultaneous comparative seawatch from Beechey Head and Race Rocks to determine if the birds leaving Beechey also passed Race, and if so, how long it took.  The weather was clear, and the challenge was on!  But there was a glitch.  Nothing was passing Race Rocks, as there was a sea full of krill and to the west. I climbed the tower to do my watch, and found about 600 California Gulls already in the reserve picking at the krill near the water’s surface. The few alcids that made it here during the one hour watch (from 6:30-7:30) quickly set down rather than flying through. Most (if not all) of the birds Daniel counted at Beechey Head were not counted here.  We’ll try again.

Regurgitated krill

On a more entertaining note, the Elephant Seal went for a stroll today, all the way to the dock. I looked out the window at about 12:30, and there he wasn’t.  I ran out to see if he was really gone. Whew! Not yet!

He was working his way to the dock.

And eventually got to the water’s edge where he proceeded to stick his face in the water and blow bubbles. How exciting!! If you’d like to see some videos of this event, click here. (By the way, I am using a 600mm lens and keeping my distance!)

I was thrilled!  I thought it meant that he was on his way and could start eating again. Several wildlife watching vessels came by and were delighted to see him.  But apparently, this is a daily sojourn for him. Sure enough, as Greg Dickinson predicted, he returned to his resting spot after his trip to the beach!  Looks like he’s not done yet.

Ecological Notes:

1 Humpback Whale

Distant Humpback

1 Elephant Seal

6+ California Sea Lion

15+ Steller Sea Lion

80+ Harbour Seal

1 Feral Pigeon (Rock Pigeon) flew over while I was washing windows

1 Anna’s Hummingbird

2 Killdeer

6 Black Oystercatcher

It’s difficult to hide with a bright orange bill.

25 Black Turnstone

5 Least Sandpiper

18 Common Murre

80 Pigeon Guillemot

4 Rhinoceros Auklet

600 California Gull (feeding on krill at first light)

200 Glaucous-winged Gull

1 Heermann’s Gull

3 Pelagic Cormorant

4 Double-crested Cormorant

Facility Work: Washed all the windows and solar panels

Vessel Traffic: Eco-tourism boats all day, sometimes as many as 3 in the reserve at once. Estimate about 20 vessels. Only saw one private fishing boat in the reserve.

 Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Animal Census-July 28, 2021

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Weather: west wind 15 knots, fog cleared by 8 a.m. visibility good

Tide .8 m at 12 noon

Elephant Seal 1 male, 1 female
Orcas 4
Seals 68 (13 pups?) on south and south seal rocks
Sea Lions both Stellar and California 60 on middle and west rocks
Gulls

While I was counting these gulls there were 2 “feeding flocks” just off the island with about 1000 gulls so there may have been fewer gulls on the islands than usual
660 on rocks below generator shed western and glaucous winged gulllls
110 on island “nesting” mostly glaucous winged gulls but several western/hybrid gullls nesting as well
estimate of between 80 and 150 chicks

Cormorants 14
Pigeon Guillemots 56
Surfbirds 8
Black turnstones 58
Black Oystercatcher 18? they are hard to count as they move around so much 1 new chick!

Bald Eagle 1

Western sand piper 4

can you identify this bird? red knot ?

Arrived at Race Rocks

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Eco guardian switchover. Thank you Sierra for welcoming me. As the boat pulled away leaving me alone with hundreds of seagulls and their chicks, oyster catchers and pigeon guillemots I was drawn to the other mammals on the island. Hard to be lonely with this guy around! Watching the sunset from the lighthouse I was entertained by the seal pups still trying to nurse from their moms. A river otter ran along the jetty. Tomorrow morning I will check to see if it discovered the Oyster Catcher eggs surrounded by a circle of broken shells. The wind is howling from the west. Huge whitecaps. I was very glad the stairs down from the lighthouse had a railing!

Final Day

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Personal Note:

  • Even though my time here was short and sweet, I will cherish the life long memories created during my time here on the island. I hope to continue my role as eco-guardian here in the future! 

Starry Night at Race.

 

Ecological Notes:

  • 1 female Northern Elephant Seal.
  • 1 male Northern Elephant Seal. 
  • 8 Steller Sea Lions spread out on Middle Rock and South Island.
  • 2 River Otters made their way up towards the house and successfully caught a Gull chick. After making their catch, they quickly ran to hide under a wooden platform.

Facility Work:

  • Cleaned the main house in preparation for the new eco-guardian! 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 7 Ecotourism vessels and 3 pleasure vessels sightseeing in the reserve.

Feature Event: 

  • My partner, Zenon, proposed to me at the top of the lighthouse (I said “yes!”) 

Zenon (left) and Sierra (right) engaged!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Wildlife Observation

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 female Northern Elephant Seal.
  • 1 male Northern Elephant Seal. 
  • Many Ruddy Turnstones, Black Turnstones, Surfbirds and Western Sand Pipers observed on the east side of the island. 
  • There are many Gull chicks running around the island! The adult Gulls are very protective and will dive down towards me as I walk the path to the main-house. 

Gull Chicks

 

Facility Work:

  • Power washing is satisfying. I finished power washing the south facing side of the student house . 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 4 Ecotourism vessels and 2 pleasure vessels sightseeing in the reserve.

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

 

Morning Fog

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 female Northern Elephant Seal.
  • 1 male Northern Elephant Seal. 
  • The female Elephant Seal spent the early morning in the shallows. By late afternoon, she made her way back onto the island.
  • The male Elephant Seal has been spending most of his time nestled against the student house.

Facility Work:

  • Power washing continues. I sprayed down the west side of the main house (as high as I could safely reach).

DND events:

  • none

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 5 Ecotourism vessels and 2 pleasure vessels.

Weather Events:

  • Fog in the early morning; cleared by early afternoon. 
  • Westerly wind, averaging 20 knots all day. 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?